They also damaged cameras and other equipment, forcing Bhansali to stop shooting. The activists had entered the Jaigarh Fort and assaulted Bhansali, slapped him and torn up his shirt.

They even misbehaved with the crew and criticised the National Award-winning director for "distorting" history in the film about the medieval-era Delhi ruler Alauddin Khilji, who fell in love with Rajput queen Padmavati.

An official statement, on behalf of Bhansali said that:

Sanjay Leela Bhansali has shot two films in Jaipur and despite his love for Rajasthan, for the safety of his crew, we have decided to leave the city post the shocking incident where miscreants damaged property and misbehaved with the crew on the shoot of 'Padmavati'

SLB had directed the opera 'Padmavati' to packed houses in Paris and earned worldwide praise for it. He was inspired by the beautiful and courageous queen and is making a feature film on the story.

We clarify that there is no dream sequence or any objectionable scene between Rani Padmavati and Allauddin Khilji. We have been carefully researching and making the film... The attack on the shoot and crew was uncalled for and was extremely damaging to the image of the beautiful city of Jaipur.

We had earlier requested him (Bhansali) to show us the script which he did not do. We are against distorting of historical facts and we know that he has distorted historical facts," Vivek Singh of Karni Sena had told IANS.

"We will only allow him to shoot after we see the script," Singh had said.

(With inputs from IANS)

Also In HuffPost India

'Indica: A Deep Natural History Of The Indian Subcontinent' Is More Compelling Than Sci-Fi

'Indica: A Deep Natural History Of The Indian Subcontinent' Is More Compelling Than Sci-Fi